Gaming Ballistic - GURPS Content Posts

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Yeah, variable DB seems like a way to go. The extra rolls are a problem though.

Not if shield use is an attack-defense-damage event, much like a grappling attack or a regular melee attack; then it's got real utility.

I'm going to have a hard time NOT making this TG-centric. Not just because "Hey, let's use these for everything," but rather the ebb and flow and feel of the shield use as I've been learning it really IS grappling-like.

Edit: My first line comes of as cavalierly dismissing your point. Let me amplify:

The normal thing you expect to do on your turn in GURPS is attack. It's very frequently the best strategy. So you expect three rolls each turn: an attack roll, a defense roll, and a damage roll, if things go well. If you crit, you bypass the defense roll, and if you miss, neither the defense roll or damage roll matter. But if things go WELL, you make three rolls, and you're pleased with the results.

What "active shield use" would need to do is mimic that. If things go well, you "attack" to employ your shield, your foe will defend in some way, and you might expect to make an effect roll that has pleasing consequences. Defensive or offensive options, for example. If things go VERY well, then one should be allowed to leverage it. If things go very poorly but not a critical miss, then you just lose your turn, much like it is now.

I'm going to re-read my Viking Shield Fighting in GURPS post, scan the bits in GURPS Vikings (which I bought today - thanks Graeme!) that have to do with shield use to see I don't reinvent the wheel, and start writing.

[Refplace]

One ting that shields should be able to help with it seems to me is Beats.
In other words using a shield to try and knock the foes weapon out of alignment for a moment.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Refplace

One ting that shields should be able to help with it seems to me is Beats.
In other words using a shield to try and knock the foes weapon out of alignment for a moment.

Not sure if you saw my post on Viking Shield Fighting in GURPS, but I talk about beats a bit, both from a "Feint(Beat)" perspective, as well as using Technical Grappling and control points to represent the work of shield on shield.

[JMason]

Maybe there should be something akin to an "Aggressive Parry" (Aggressive Block?), but instead of damage, it functions like a deceptive attack, reducing the target's parry.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by JMason

Maybe there should be something akin to an "Aggressive Parry" (Aggressive Block?), but instead of damage, it functions like a deceptive attack, reducing the target's parry.

Honestly, the more I think of it, the more I think I want to try representing all this stuff as a grapple, both with RAW and with TG mechanics. It meshes well both with how I've been taught to use them, and plays nicely with GURPS mechanics for such things.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Not sure if you saw my post on Viking Shield Fighting in GURPS, but I talk about beats a bit, both from a "Feint(Beat)" perspective, as well as using Technical Grappling and control points to represent the work of shield on shield.

Nope but Ill have to check it out.

[Anthony]

The reason people don't raise shield skill is:
+8 points in shield -> +1 block
+8 points in sword -> +1 parry, +2 attack, +2 defense against feint, ...

Now, block does have a real advantage over parry, in that some attacks can be blocked but not parried, but it's not generally enough to make up for the above. The obvious thing to do is make your shield skill useful for something other than block. I'd consider making it function as trained strength for slams.

[DouglasCole]

Thursday is GURPSDay, and this is the week's tally as of about 3:30pm or so. I'll be uploading a post of my own later tonight, and then running it again between 10 and midnight.

GURPSDay Summary Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2017

[Refplace]

Read the article and it gives me a few ideas. I will use them to redo some of my setting shield styles,.

[DouglasCole]

After a few other more general posts on shield use, I muse on a very optional and completely untested way to represent setting a defensive line with the shield by modeling it as an attack. I borrow from Setup Attacks, Deceptive Attacks, and kinda-sorta Technical Grappling, but don't really address how it will interact with the rest of the offensive/defensive options in GURPS.

Aggressive Shield Use in GURPS